FCC to Rewrite Open Internet Rules

After being handed a defeat in court last month, the Federal Communications Commission will take another stab at implementing rules to keep the internet open. Tom Wheeler, FCC chairman, said in a statement Wednesday the agency will forgo further legal action against Verizon, which won its challenge to the rules, and will use Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act to create new rules that are clearer, more well defined, and backed by law. From a high-level point of view, Wheeler wants internet service providers to be open about their network management tactics, wants to prevent them from discriminating against certain types of traffic, and wants to prevent them from entirely blocking services. Wheeler hopes that by changing the argument behind the Open Internet Rules, the FCC will be able to establish them officially and in a manner that can be enforced. "The FCC must stand strongly behind its responsibility to oversee the public interest standard and ensure that the internet remains open and fair," said Wheeler. "The internet is and must remain the greatest engine of free expression, innovation, economic growth, and opportunity the world has ever known. We must preserve and promote the internet."

I think the providers are in a bit of a quandary. Agree to network neutrality, or risk being reclassified as a utility and be heavily regulated. Being reclassified could result in net neutrality anyway, plus a whole bunch of other stuff they probabl...(continues)